Take the C-Train
Incentives matter, and if you ended subsidies for roads, people would drive less, Josh Barro notes — but not much less: An end to road subsidies would raise gasoline prices by about 50 to 60 cents a...
View ArticleHow the Elites Built America’s Economic Wall
Regions with better economies tend to have higher real-estate prices, but now, Virginia Postrel warns, elites in those regions have artificially pushed prices prohibitively high with land-use...
View ArticleStreetcar Plans Plow Ahead
Streetcars are making a comeback — with federal backing: In 2009, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood pledged $280 million for urban-transit projects, such as streetcars. During the past four years,...
View ArticleRooftop Villas
Four houses were built on the rooftop of the Jiutian International Square, a shopping mall in Zhuzhou, Hunan province: The buildings, which have electricity and water pipes already installed, will be...
View ArticleForget About Helmets
If you fall off a bike, a helmet can reduce your risk of serious head injury — but ordinary cyclists rarely fall, which is why cyclists rarely wear helmets unless forced: On the other hand, many...
View Article11 feet and 8 inches tall
Big signs and flashing yellow lights alert drivers that the railroad trestle at Gregson and Peabody streets in Durham, North Carolina is 11 feet and 8 inches tall. A local man named Jürgen Henn has...
View ArticleShould the Northeast Bury its Power Lines?
Hurricane Sandy left 6 million people without power. Irene left 7.4 million homes without power. So, should the Northeast bury its power lines? Fallen trees, snow, and ice are major causes of power...
View ArticleIt’s time we ended this mendacious cycling hysteria
It’s time we ended this mendacious cycling hysteria, Alexander Boot says: When bicycles first appeared in the 19th century, they revolutionised Britain’s country life. Suddenly farmers acquired an easy...
View ArticleCan Mass Transit Save the Environment?
Can mass transit save the environment? It’s not likely: At any given time, the average auto has somewhere around 1.6 passengers, and the average (typically 40-seat) bus has only about 10. Rail vehicles...
View ArticleLondon in the 1980s
Michael Lewis introduces John Lanchester’s novel Capital with his own memories of London in the 1980s: When I moved to London for graduate school back in the early 1980s, the city felt as if it existed...
View ArticleModern French Architecture
Theodore Dalrymple is not in favour of the guillotine — except prophylactically for modern French architects: They should, of course, be given the choice between the guillotine and the fate of the...
View ArticleDrivers vs. Pedestrians
While visiting Frankfurt and Moscow, Peter Turchin found himself thinking about social norms governing interactions between drivers and pedestrians: These norms vary dramatically between countries, and...
View ArticleWhat Did the Cameras See?
Boston is saturated with cameras: Nine cities — Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Quincy, Somerville and Winthrop — are all interconnected, and the system is designed to instantly...
View ArticlePhalanstère
What does Fitzhugh mean by a phalanstery? He’s referring to Charles Fourier’s utopian building concept, the phalanstère: Fourier believed that the traditional house was a place of exile and oppression...
View ArticleSimCity’s Evil Twin
Dwarf Fortress is SimCity’s evil twin, Gabriel Winslow-Yost says: Dwarf Fortress puts the player in charge of a fledgling Dwarven colony, initially comprising seven dwarfs — a number that can, with the...
View ArticleBleep
American drivers — well, outside a few cities — are used to driving without ever hearing anyone honk their horn. Indian drivers honk all the time. Literally. Trucks have “please honk” signs — that’s...
View ArticleLarry Ellison’s Fantasy Island
The real mystery of Larry Ellison’s Fantasy Island is how it took this long for Larry Ellison to buy his own island: It had been his far-fetched dream since he was in his 20s, when he first flew over...
View ArticleWhy Does the Lack of Traffic Rules Work in England, but Not in Haiti?
There are numerous examples of small European towns that have done away with signal lights and traffic signs and now traffic flows better, transit times have decreased, and roadways have became less...
View ArticleMap of America’s Racial Segregation
This map draws on data from the 2010 U.S. Census to show one dot per person, color-coded by race — using this perfectly natural schema: White people are shown with blue dots; African-Americans with...
View ArticleWhat Is a Mayor’s Job?
What is a mayor’s job? Ensuring freedom from fear, Myron Magnet says: For New Yorkers of my generation, a keynote of our youth was fear. Deserted streets at night felt as ominous as a film noir, and if...
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